This invention relates to methods and systems for managing online and other communications.
With the growth of use of the Internet, more and more people have access to e-mail, and more and more entities use e-mail to communicate with customers, potential customers, or other people of interest. In, for example, a marketing context, companies periodically send e-mails to customers with new product information, special offers, company news, or other information.
As a result, recipients find themselves receiving more e-mails than they want to read. Recipients may get angry at the sender, may xe2x80x9copt-outxe2x80x9d of further mailings (if that option is available), or may simply stop reading the mailings. Thus, the benefits from sending mailings are reduced and recipients may not get information they otherwise would have found useful.
According to the present invention, message volume and timing is managed, preferably for both messages from a single message source and messages from multiple, independent message sources. In one embodiment, a centralized message pacing system is used, which regulates when messages are sent to recipients. In another embodiment, each message source uses a commonly-accessible data repository to determine when it sends messages, so that the timing of messages from each message source is coordinated.
The invention permits messages to be spaced at regular or other periods, depending on the type of message, its priority, or other factors. In addition, the invention permits messages to be combined in accordance with a set of rules, so as to reduce the number of separate messages that each recipient receives. Also, the invention permits the pacing of messages to be monitored, so that if a message is not sent to a recipient within a specified time period, one or more message sources are notified. Either the sender or the recipient can have control over the message pacing, both with respect to the timing of messages and the types of messages.
The invention is applicable generally to various types of communications channels. In a preferred embodiment, the invention is used in conjunction with a marketing system, such as the system described in commonly-assigned patent application Ser. No. 09/621,913, filed on the same day as this application, entitled xe2x80x9cMethod and System for Facilitating Marketing Dialogues,xe2x80x9d which is incorporated herein by reference.